Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
A&G: Most of all, we love the mountains!! Whether it’s climbing, skiing, or just walking in nature we live as much of our lives outdoors as we can. So much so that, since getting married, we’ve moved from London to Boulder, Colorado and are spending our time roaming the Rockies!
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
G: I met A when I was 16. She was a rockstar climber winning prizes at competitions that I used to enter – so cool! I could never have imagined back then that we would end up married after years apart… But I would have been extremely pleased with myself!
A: We reconnected at our mutual friend’s wedding after about 10 years of having lost touch. My first words were, ‘Oh! You got hot!’… It went from there.
When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
A&G: We don’t think that either of us ever had a lightbulb ‘they’re the one!’ moment. But from about a year into dating, we started unofficially proposing to each other on nights out… with pretty much every combination of words except for ‘will you marry me’!
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
A: We were climbing in the mountains in Sardinia when G proposed. We were at our favourite crag with views across the valley, at sunset, with no one around but us and a family of kestrels. G got down on one knee, with a plastic ring! We watched the sunset with a bottle of prosecco, and designed my actual ring together in London when we got home.
G: Although of course we knew that we wanted to get married, the actual proposal was quite spontaneous! I knew I wanted to propose somewhere remote, beautiful, in nature. Our fortunate mid-COVID trip to Sardinia was the perfect occasion but I hadn’t thought to bring a ring… I convinced A that she needed to buy new climbing shoes mid-trip and, faking a work call, sprinted to the beach, bought a plastic ring, and sprinted back. I then carried it around in my pocket for days before finding the perfect spot, below the perfect cliff, with a perfect sunset.
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding
A&G: We were planning our wedding during COVID, and so with an intimate group of 50 friends we had the amazing opportunity to celebrate at A’s family home in the Ashdown forest. The forest was woven into all aspects of the wedding. The marquee felt as though nature had grown inside, overflowing with Old Man’s Beard and other foliage – an inspired choice by the florist, G’s sister. We held our ceremony in the forest itself – our friend played the vicar and had written us a fantastically thoughtful ceremony, drawing on answers to questions he had asked both of us separately about our relationship. So many people pitched in to help us out: A’s mum made the cake, a family friend did the planting, a bridesmaid did A’s makeup, and G’s mum did the calligraphy – even our flower confetti was picked from the garden by our friend’s mother and dried over the AGA!
Our vision for the wedding was that every single person would have an amazing day and feel personally included. We incorporated lots of personal touches – we had photos of us with each guest printed as polaroids as table place names and we each handwrote a letter to each guest thanking them for coming and saying why them being there was important to us.
And we wanted it to be a massive party! The house is in the middle of nowhere, so we kept the music going til 3am, including a Power Hour of fist-clenchers from midnight til 1am. Our DJ mixed an incredible, inexhaustible set of bangers that kept people dancing until they literally dropped.
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
A&G: We knew that catering would be one of the biggest expenses, and we were more than happy to splurge here. Gastro catering truly made the day what it was. Not only was the food INSANELY good (a foodie guest even said the fried chicken canape was the best she’d ever had) and portions were huge, but also they managed the day like event planners. They controlled all the timings, and everything just appeared in the right place at the right time – not least a glass of champagne being never far from our hands!
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
G: Nothing was stressful on the day – it was perfect! The thing we laugh most about in hindsight was my speech… It ended up not starting till 10.30pm having started champagne from 10am! I went a bit off script and gushed lovingly to A as if there was no one else in the room.
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
AR: I struggled to find any tops that fitted my proportions (climbing has given me big arms for my size!), so I bought the lace online and had a crop top made by a local seamstress – I think she did a beautiful job and it looks great with jeans! G had bought me a pair of Jimmy Choo heels as a wedding gift, but I ended up keeping my Doc Martens on for most of the day, and my ‘something borrowed’ were G’s great grandmother’s pearl and emerald bracelets.
I changed into a feathery beaded mini skirt for the evening – which was SO FUN to dance in – and a very last-minute rental crop top from Selfridges.
G’s Mum gave us her wedding ring to melt down for our wedding rings, so they share the same gold – which is a lovely touch
GM: Fitting with the summer country vibe, we wanted the groom’s party in linen suits – my parents live in Hong Kong, and our family tailor there made the bespoke outfits perfectly. The suits were finished off with foliage buttonholes made by my sister
Photographer: Lottie Topping | Entertainment: DJ Doug Marshall | Marquee: Sail & Peg | Flora: Lirio Londo | Catering + Beverages: Gastro Catering | Registry: Hitchd.com | Groom’s suit: Handmade by a family Tailor in Hong Kong | Brides first dress: Self Portrait – White Azaelea mini dress | Silk Skirt: MaxMara rented via Selfridged Renta | Feather Top: Cult Gaia | Feather Skirt: Nadine Merabi | Brides shoes: Jimmy Choo | Grooms Shoes: Dr Marten | Rings: DG Bespoke | Brides Flower crown: Lirio London | Make up: Bride did herself | Hair: Catherine Legg |Bridesmaid Dresses: TFNC London
